Treat 'em right. Sadly, this is where many owners fall short.

You just can't beat a good off-leash walk, in the country, with several other dogs. The humans can tag along also, if they can keep up. The best possible exercise for mind, body and spirit. Not to mention the times you can really relax with your dog, after his/her workout!

The above example is of course, the best. Not everyone has access to dog walks (actually they are runs!). Not everyone lives in the country, like we do. That is why we would like to show our support for dog parks.

Encroaching Cities

City officials/planners need to be aware of the fact that growth of cities causes problems for dogs and their owners. When dog parks are established, dog owners are happy, dogs are happy, and there is the added benefit of more citizens purchasing dog licenses. This is true because licenses can be required before the dog(s) would be allowed to enter the dog park. Also, we are more apt to stay out of the non-dog person's way if we have somewhere to go!

Many non-dog people may say "Why should I pay for a dog park when I don't own a dog?" I feel this is akin to saying "Why should I pay for schools when I don't have any children?" We as a community need to be willing to pay the price for a happy, well adjusted society. We all pay for schools and city parks, whether we have children or not. If there are too many non-dog people in a given community, dog parks can require yearly fees to cover costs through licensing departments. Dogs without a special identification tag would not be allowed to enter. Temporary tags could be purchased for visiting dogs. Dog parks are as important as human parks because dog parks are for humans also. It's not like we are sending our dogs to the park alone! Maybe we should call them human/canine interaction parks instead. We want to have fun too!

Big Dawgs

Even though we live in a rural community of less than 200,00 citizens, divided between three cities, we are still running into problems. Joggers, mountain bikers and motorcyclists cross our path no matter how far out of town we go. When you have large sighthounds with a strong prey drive that can run like the wind after anything that moves, this is a problem. And when we go farther out, we have to worry about hunters and people target shooting. Of course ours is a worst case scenario. Most dogs don't need as much room to run.

lil' ones

Obviously you won't need to take a small dog (unless a Basenji owns you) out in the wilderness for a run. The little ones can benefit from play groups though. I've been around some pretty cranky little dogs in my life. I feel a play group would help "small dog crankiness syndrome" greatly!

So, large or small, we need dog parks! Or move to Australia! Check back on us to see where we go from here!

Protect 'dem Bones

Puppies should not be taken on long leash walks before 6 months of age. Short training sessions on leash around the house and yard are encouraged but "exercise" needs to end as soon as pup is tired. Let them be the judge of that.

No jumping until 12 months of age. Agility training should wait for now!

No backpacks until 18 months! After 12 months your pup can wear an empty backpack for short periods to get used to it.

Please read the above article, "Vitamin C and Hip Dysplasia" (be sure to scroll to the bottom for the most important information) for strong, healthy bones.

Big or little, they just wanna have fun!